The Bad Guy of Sugar Rush
by W. R. Winters
Summary: Gloyd's pranks have gotten out of control. So Vanellope goes to talk some sense into him. Things don't work out too well and now Vanellope hates Gloyd. Now Gloyd wants to repair the friendship he had broken, and possibly turn it into something more. But will he be able to fix things up with Vanellope? Or will he just be considered the game's bad guy? Older racers AU VanillaPumpkin.


**Okay I know I made a promise to myself not to publish a new story until I finished one of my in-progress stories, but after going through some of the Wreck-it-Ralph Fanfics I got an idea I just couldn't keep locked away.**

**I noticed that there aren't enough Vanilla Pumpkin(Vanellope x Gloyd) stories and those two are just too cute together. There will also be some Rancis x Taffyta(I'm surprised there aren't more stories that use this pairing) in this too. I think I have a great idea, and as you've noticed from the summary I put. This story will be a little interesting. Well anyway I hope you enjoy this story.**

**Personally I have no idea where I got this idea, but I hope I do a good job of writing it as I thought it. I apologize in advance if the characters are a little OOC.**

**VERY IMPORTANT!: Sugar Rush was upgraded and now the racers are now 17 instead of 7 or 8(yeah they're that young), they still have the same outfits though. Also this is my first Wreck-it-Ralph story so try to go a little easy on me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wreck-it-Ralph**

**-*X*x*X*-**

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><p>Today was a fun, but pretty stressful day for Vanellope, she was chosen by every player to be their avatar, but now that the arcade was closed, she had a lot of president stuff to do, and to top it all off, she was bored out of her mind. She needed some entertainment, but she couldn't go over to Fix-it-Felix Jr. to see Ralph, he had Bad-Anon today and he told her today might go over a little late today, and she couldn't go over to Hero's Duty to see Calhoun, she was probably hanging out with Felix. There weren't many things Vanellope could do at the moment.<p>

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><p>For now she was on the side of the track leaning against her cart thinking she'll think of something, or maybe something will come to her, but what were the chances of-<p>

Her thoughts were cut short by the sound of an approaching cart and a laugh. She looked forward and saw the familiar cart of Gloyd Orangeboar. Seeing the president Gloyd skidded to the side to avoid completely crashing into her and coming to a stop, "Gourdbrain what are you doing?" she demanded rather than asked.

Gloyd looked in the direction that he came from, "Sorry your Royal Glitchyness, but I gotta run." He said the grin still plastered in his face as he started his cart again, "Talk to ya later!" he shouted as he drove away laughing as he did. It was obvious that he just pulled a prank.

Vanellope rolled her eyes, this was classic behavior for the Halloween-themed prankster. Gloyd was sweeter than candy itself, but pranking was in his code. She had nothing against his pranks, but recently they had gotten rather annoying . "I wonder what he's getting away from so fast?" she asked no one in particular.

As if a response to her words she heard two voices, "ORANGEBOAR!" Vanellope turned to see Rancis and Taffyta speed down the track. Both of them were covered in cake, icing, and the faces were covered in ash like they stood too close to a Cherry Bomb. They pulled over and turned towards Vanellope, "Did you see where he went?!" Rancis asked. Vanellope found herself laughing at the appearance of her friends.

When she got a little under control she asked them, "What did Gloyd do now?" she said still slightly laughing.

Taffyta answered looking more annoyed than Rancis, "He set of a small Cherry Bomb he planted in a cake during our picnic." Rancis nodded.

'_Of course.'_ Vanellope thought to herself, not long after their game's upgrade Taffyta and Rancis had gone out on a few dates and didn't appreciate it when someone ruined their 'moments', but their large reactions were probably why Gloyd did it so often, "Well if it'll make you feel better, he went that way." She said pointing.

"I'll feel better when I get my hands on him." Taffyta said as she started her cart and drove off, with Rancis in pursuit. Laughing slightly she felt tempted to climb into her cart and drive after them, whether it was to see if they would catch him or not she didn't know. Gloyd had one of the fastest karts, but the steering wasn't as good as Taffyta and Rancis' karts. It wouldn't be much of a chase if they had a Sweet Seeker though. Gloyd had one, if not the highest 'sweetness' levels in the game, which made him an easy target for a Sweet Seeker.

Vanellope shrugged it off, "Gloyd's fine, hasn't been caught yet, I don't see why today would be any different." So why was she feeling concern for Gloyd?

* * *

><p>She was right, about ten minutes later Rancis and Taffyta came back and judging from the look on their faces; they weren't able to catch him. Taffyta looked at Vanellope, "Call the other racers, we need to have a talk about Gloyd." Rancis nodded and Vanellope looked confused.<p>

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><p>It took a while, but the three of them had gathered all of the racers, excluding Gloyd, in the palace, "Hey everyone," Vanellope started and everyone stared at her, "Well I'm not entirely sure why we called you here, but…" She trailed off hoping someone would step in, Taffyta did getting the message that it was her turn to talk.<p>

"We called you here to talk about Gloyd's behavior," She said, "Ever since Vanellope became president, Gloyd's pranks have been getting more and more frequent. When the new upgrade came, let's face it, he's gotten out of control."

Vanellope raised a hand, "Well not _completely_ out of control." She said, slightly confusing herself. She wasn't sure why she was trying to defend him, Gloyd wasn't one of her closest friends, but she got along with him pretty well.

Rancis turned towards her, "Are you saying that because you're the only person he hasn't pranked?"

"Yeah he's right," Swizzle said, "Gloyd's pranked everyone, everyone except you."

Vanellope shrugged, "Maybe Gourdbrain doesn't want to prank the president because he's too scared that I'll throw him in the Fungeon."

Jubileena spoke up, "Well not really, Gloyd would prank King Candy every chance he got, and King Candy had much more reason to throw him in the Fungeon. Sometimes Gloyd would even skip the Random Roster Race to avoid getting caught." Vanellope was confused, why would any of the racers skip the Random Roster Race? "Hey maybe you can talk him into toning down his pranks."

Minty agreed and so did Candlehead, "Yeah, if there's anybody here he'd listen to I'm sure it would be you." The later of the two responded. Vanellope was unsure, but she was president and she knew this had to be done. She was sure Gloyd would understand.

"Vanellope, normally we wouldn't ask you to do this," Taffyta said, "But with the Sugar Rush Ball coming up we need Gloyd on his best behavior." Sugar Rush had a ball every year for the arcade and it was next week. Vanellope didn't really have much taste for balls, but she couldn't just break tradition.

"Fine I'll do it," Vanellope said grabbing her racing goggles and went out the door.

* * *

><p>Now the thing was that she had to find him, which was no easy task. Gloyd knew every hiding spot and shortcut in Sugar even better than she did, which was saying a lot, but he always had to know every method to make a quick getaway after pulling a prank. Vanellope was driving around Sugar Rush to find Gloyd. She drove into the Junkyard and came to a stop, "Okay, if I pulled a prank," she told herself, "where would I go after I pulled it off?"<p>

"I would suggest in a small cave underneath one of the giant gumdrops by Diet Cola Mountain," a familiar voice said not too far away, "You can hide your cart in any of the larger caves nearby."

"Oh, thanks Gloyd," she said and was about to drive off when she processed what she just said. "Gloyd?" she turned and sure enough, Gloyd was standing there leaning against his cart looking very casual, meaning he had an amused smile on his face. "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Looking for me? I'm flattered Princess." Gloyd said and Vanellope blushed.

"It's President," she grumbled.

"Right president, "Gloyd said correcting himself, "You know, I could use your help on my next prank." Vanellope felt a little excited that Gloyd wanted to include her in something that seemed fun, but then she remembered what she had to talk to Gloyd about.

She sighed, "Gloyd, about your pranks…" she said trailing off, this was going so much better in her head.

"What?" he asked, "I'm not losing my touch am I?" he asked.

"No it's not that, your pranks are as unpredictable as usual," Gloyd sighed from relief, "It's just that, the other racers and I think you're getting rather reckless with your pranks. I mean you've pranked practically everybody that lives in Sugar Rush at least once, and even some that don't live in this game. You're getting out of control."

"Well I haven't pranked _everyone_." Gloyd said slightly defending himself.

Vanellope rolled her eyes, "No just everybody that comes to Sugar Rush, everyone except me at least." She pointed out, "People are guessing that you have a death wish since you pranked Calhoun."

Gloyd shrugged, "I got away didn't I?"

"If it weren't for the fact that you regenerate inside this game you would be nothing but a smoking crater," she said.

"Hey she needs to loosen up, being married to Fix-It just isn't enough." Gloyd said, "She needs to have fun every once in a while."

"Hey, I have fun with her all the time." Vanellope said defending Calhoun, who was the closest thing she had to a mom.

"I didn't say she _doesn't_ have fun," Gloyd said, "Just that she needs to have _more _fun."

"She was a very intense job," Vanellope said, "Life's not all cookies and cream you know."

"I know that." Gloyd said, Vanellope was starting to lose her patience,

"Do you?" she said surprising Gloyd with the tone of her voice, "I don't think you do. All you do is prank people and get on their nerves, all day every day is just one big joke to you isn't it?" Gloyd opened his mouth, but Vanellope kept on going, "Everybody's had enough of your pranks, the racers, the citizens, including me."

"Hey pranking's in my code," he defended, "Telling me not to prank is like telling you not to glitch." Vanellope narrows her eyes.

"So you're saying I'm still a glitch." She asked, Gloyd's eyes widened.

"I never said that." He said silently Vanellope still heard him.

"But you were thinking it," Vanellope said, "You've always thought that haven't you? That I'm just a glitch? Is that all you think I'll ever be?" Gloyd didn't respond, and Vanellope took his answer as a confirmation, "Is that why you don't pull pranks on me, because you think I'm not someone worth pranking? You still think I'm a mistake and I wasn't supposed to exist."

Gloyd couldn't believe what he was hearing, "No of course not-"

"Don't you dare lie to me Orangeboar." She interrupted. Gloyd went silent and he tried to say something, but nothing came out. Vanellope waited for an answer, but one never came. She took a few steps back, and she couldn't believe what was happening. Her pixels glitched a little as tears came to her eyes, her face softened, but it hardened again. "I guess I was wrong about you, I thought you were my friend, but I guess you're just another bad guy," She took a couple more steps back and said four words, "I hate you Gloyd." She turned around not wanting to look at his face, got into her kart and started to drive away. Tears starting the flow down her cheeks as she did. She wished Ralph was here.

* * *

><p>Ralph couldn't explain it, but he had a feeling that Vanellope needed him. Maybe he was being paranoid and coming up with reasons to leave Bad-Anon early. He enjoyed coming, but sometimes it was rather boring.<p>

Ralph raised a hand, "Hey sorry to stop your experience, but I was wondering if I could leave early today. I have some business to take care of, rather important."

Clyde considered it for a moment, "Okay Ralph, but remember we're having another meeting in a few days, and you're bringing snacks." Ralph nodded not really caring at this point, he rushed through the Pac man maze not even stopping to pick up the cherries.

* * *

><p>He got off the train to Game Central Station and started running, he got to the entrance, only to be stopped by the Surge Protector, "Step aside sir-"<p>

"-Random security check I know. My name is Wreck-it-Ralph. I'm coming from Pac man, I don't have any fruit, heading to Fix-it-Felix Jr., and if you don't let me go wherever I want for the rest of the day I'll find wherever you came from and disable you."

He looked at Ralph, "Fine I can let you off the hook for today." He zapped away and Ralph ran towards the entrance to his game.

* * *

><p>Ralph had a bit of struggle getting out of the small blue train, but he had to find Felix, he was probably with Calhoun and if Vanellope needed him. She also needed them too. Ralph ran towards the building asking the Nicelanders if Felix was nearby, they told him where he was and Ralph ran off.<p>

Turns out Ralph was right about Felix being with Calhoun, which was no surprise. Ralph literally came crashing in on code-knows-what. "Brother," Felix said, "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know," Ralph said, "But I have a feeling that Vanellope needs our help." Calhoun stood up and the mention of her 'daughter'.

"Well then what are you waiting for, let's move them out."

* * *

><p>'<em>I hate you Gloyd'<em>. That sentence kept repeating in his head as he watched her drive away. Four words that made his heart feel like a double stripe, broken. Gloyd turned around and slowly walked to his kart in shock. Vanellope hates him, but that couldn't be it. Vanellope didn't hate anyone, not even Taffyta or Rancis. The only person she hated was… King Candy. Gloyd stopped, was he really _that_ bad? He had to get his thoughts together. He climbed into his kart and drove toward the Candy Tree Forest.

* * *

><p>Gloyd drove through the forest hoping to get a little peace when singing came to his ears. The Laffy Taffy were singing a love song. Curious he went to see what all the lovey-dovey stuff was about. He looked to see Taffyta and Rancis sitting on a Candy Tree log surrounded by singing Laffy Taffy. Rolling his eyes he almost smiled, almost.<p>

He got closer to listen to what they were talking about. They were laughing and sounding like they were having a great time. Gloyd was thinking of something he could do, then he stopped. Rancis just wrapped arm around Taffyta's shoulder and she lean into the embrace, "You know Taffyta," Rancis said, "There's no one else I would rather be with right now."

Taffyta smiled, "I know, I feel the same." Gloyd smiled a little, now that he wasn't pulling a prank on them. He could see how cute they looked together. "So what were you going to ask me? You know before Gloyd interrupted." Gloyd felt a pang of guilt and continued to listen.

"Right," Rancis said taking Taffyta's head of his shoulder so he could look into her eyes, "Taffyta, you know the Sugar Rush Ball coming up?" she nodded, "Well I was hoping that you'd be my date."

Taffyta's eyes widened, "Really?" she said with a slight gasp. Then she was confused, "But I thought I already was." Gloyd was confused too.

"I know," Rancis said, "What I mean is, I want to go with you in a different scenario that what I had planned." Rancis stood up and held a hand out to her, she grabbed it and she stood up. Rancis kept her hands clasped in his. Gloyd was starting to see how close this was to a scene in a romance story. "We've gone out on a few dates as friends, but I'm feeling something more than that."

'_Was this really Rancis that was talking?' _Taffyta thought to herself. It was like the sweet side of Gloyd took a vacation and went inside Rancis, "What are you saying?" she asked him.

"Yeah what are you saying?" Gloyd said quietly.

"What I'm saying is," Rancis said, "Is that I want you to be my girlfriend." Gloyd's jaw dropped, was this what he stopped earlier, because of his pranks?

Taffyta looked at Rancis with shock, "Rancis this is- I mean-" she said fumbling over her words, "Why me?"

Gloyd got closer, still trying not to be seen. Rancis smiled at her, "Why not? You're sweet, kind, funny, beautiful, and an awesome racer. Why wouldn't I want you?"

Taffyta felt… well she didn't know, but she'd never felt something like this before, "Well I was so horrible to Vanellope, I was always telling you guys to treat her like a pit of Nesquick-sand-" she tried to continue, but Rancis cut her off.

"I don't care about that, you apologized and know you're great friends with her." Rancis cupped her cheek with one hand, "Look Taffyta, every moment I spend with you is always one of the best moments of my life, and nothing you may have done in the past, or any moment Gloyd ruins." Gloyd flinched, "Could make me love you any less than I do now."

Taffyta's eyes widened and she felt tears well up in her eyes, "What was that?"

"Taffyta," he said, "I love you." The tears freely flowed down her face and Taffyta threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Rancis returned the embrace and they held each other close.

"I love you too." She whispered into his ear. Rancis pulled away from the hug and looked deeply into Taffyta's eyes. Rancis leaned in and so did Taffyta and they shared their first kiss.

* * *

><p>From his position Gloyd looked at the couple and felt happy for them, but at the same time a little sad. Deciding to give the two of them a little privacy, Gloyd backed away and walked away towards his kart.<p>

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><p>Taffyta broke the kiss and smiled at her new boyfriend, then out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gloyd walking away. "Is that Gloyd?" Rancis turned around and saw that it was, but that didn't make sense. He didn't pull any pranks, make his presence known, or do anything to ruin the moment.<p>

"You think we should talk to him?" Rancis asked, she nodded and they ran after him. "Gloyd!" he yelled when they got close. The prankster turned around just as they were coming to a stop.

"Hey guys," he said, he sounded… sad.

"Did you just spy on us?" Taffyta asked, Gloyd shrugged, "How much did you see?"

"Just about all of it. Why?" he asked.

Rancis raised an eyebrow, "And you didn't pull anything?"

"No I didn't," Gloyd turned and climbed into his kart, "Just didn't feel like it, that's all." He started up his kart, "See you guys later, and congratulations." He drove off leaving the two of them stunned.

"What did Vanellope do to Gloyd?" Rancis asked.

"I don't know." She responded.

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><p>Vanellope drove up the road to her castle, the recent events still swimming in her head. Every now and then she would glitch a little as she jumped out of her kart and into the castle. She ran through the halls and into her room. She stopped holding back and she fell onto her bed crying into her pillow.<p>

After a few minutes of sobbing she sat up, why was she doing this? She was Vanellope Von Schweetz , she didn't cry, she was tough, the best racer in Sugar Rush. She couldn't let some boy let her behave like this. Another tear escaped, but this had never happened to her before. The last time she felt this sad was when Ralph broke her kart.

'_Why is Gloyd making my feel like this?'_ she thought to herself, _'I've been insulted before, but it never affected me to this degree.'_ She fell back onto the bed once again wishing Ralph and the others were here. there was a knock at the door.

"President Vanellope," a monotone voice said. It was Sour Bill, "There are some people here to see you."

"Who?" she asked.

"Wreck-it-Ralph and two others." He responded. Well that was serendipitous.

"Stinkbrain?" she asked herself, "Send them in." a few minutes later Ralph, Calhoun, and Felix walked into the room.

"Kid you okay?" Ralph asked. She shook her head.

Calhoun walked over and sat down beside Vanellope on the bed. The game's upgrade had made her a little taller, but Calhoun was still taller than her, "So what's wrong?" she asked. The Hero's Duty player looked at Vanellope and saw that whatever this was, it was pretty big. "Okay so who am I blasting?" Vanellope slightly laughed.

"No one, at least not yet." She said.

"Did someone hurt you?" Ralph said, Vanellope looked up at Ralph and her expression gave him an answer, "Okay where is this guy I need some wrecking practice and I think I know the perfect method."

"Ralph," Felix said, "At least let her explain first."

"Well, it's about Gloyd." She said.

Calhoun's face hardened, "You mean that Pumpkin-headed Freak that put bubblegum into the rockets on my cruiser?" she nodded and Ralph chuckled slightly at the memory. The Sergeant shut him up with a glare. "What did he do?"

Vanellope sighed, "Well the other racers asked me to get Gloyd to tone down his pranks for a little while." she started and they listened to the story.

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><p>Gloyd parked his car outside of his house, he climbed out and was immediately greeted by Swizzle, "Hey Gloyd how's it going?" Gloyd shrugged and he continued, "Well I found out from Minty where Adorabeezle is hiding some of the decorations, you wanna help me hide them or have some fun with them."<p>

Gloyd considered it for a moment, it seemed like fun. He was going to agree when Vanellope's words echoed in his head. _'Everybody's had enough of your pranks, the racers, the citizens, including me' _Gloyd shook his head, "No thanks Swizz, I'm not in the mood right now. Thanks for the offer though." Gloyd turned around and walked into his house.

Swizzle was surprised and confused, before today. All you have to do was say the word 'prank' or mention something related to it and Gloyd would agree in a heartbeat. Did Vanellope's talk work? He would have to ask her about it later.

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><p>In the house Gloyd took off his hat and put in on a nearby rack. He was then immediately greeted by a small grey bat, "Hey Spook," he said acknowledging his pet. Spook gave Gloyd a questioning look. He could clearly see that something was wrong. Gloyd ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "I messed up today Spook, I messed up and now Vanellope hates me. I don't know what to do." Spook though for a moment. Then he started pulling on some of Gloyd's hair, "Ow hey, cut that out." Spook flew away and Gloyd followed him to his room. Spook was sitting on his desk with a pen in his mouth, "You want me to write something?" He nodded, "To Vanellope?" he nodded more vigorously, "You want me to write an apology letter to Vanellope?" Spook did a mess of flight patterns to tell him he got it, "Okay, I'll give it a try." He said grabbing the pen out of the little bat's mouth.<p>

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><p>"-and then I turned around and left not wanting to stay around him any longer." Vanellope finished looking up at the expressions on her friends' faces. Felix was surprised, Ralph seemed deep in thought, it was hard to read Calhoun's expression, but Vanellope would be surprised if she wasn't mad.<p>

"Oh my land," Felix said.

Calhoun looked at Vanellope before turning to the two boys, "Can you give us a moment?"

Felix nodded and Ralph shrugged, "Sure, I have some important stuff to do anyway." Ralph said, "Felix I may want you along, it could become quite a mess."

"Oh boy," he said and ran off after the wrecker.

"I'm willing to bet that Ralph's gonna tear the place up looking for that jokester." Calhoun said, Vanellope only gave a slight smile, "So what is it that has you this worked up, you've reacted like this when they insulted you before." Vanellope sighed, "Does it have to do with that it came from Gloyd?"

Vanellope looked down and a slight blush came to her face, "I don't know, maybe it does. I just thought I was finally being accepted and there's the stress of being president. This is just putting more weight on the pile, I'm not sure how much I can take."

"So you just took out some of your frustration on Gloyd?" Calhoun summarized. "So are you saying-"

"No I am not apologizing. He still called me a glitch and I'm not forgiving him that easy." Vanellope said steeling herself.

Calhoun breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled a little, "Good I was beginning to think I raised you wrong." Both of them laughed a little and Vanellope felt a little better. Yep, Calhoun was definitely the closest thing she had to a mom, that is if her mom blasted Cy-Bugs into smithereens for a living. "Look kid, I'm sure you'll be able to figure and solve this on your own. You're a big girl and with me and Ralph around. No one will want to mess with you."

"Thanks… Mom." She said and Calhoun looked at her in surprise. Her features soften a little, then they went back to normal.

"Don't call me that it makes me feel old," Vanellope giggled, "Well if you're going to call me that, it means that you're giving me permission to blast that Gourdbrain the next time I see him." Vanellope burst out laughing almost forgetting the stress of today.

* * *

><p>"Ralph intimidation won't get you everything you want, I'm so sorry for his behavior." Felix said apologizing to a terrified Jubileena and Candlehead. Ralph had gone on a rampage looking for the Pumpkin Prankster known as Gloyd. He certainly knew how to hide, Ralph had been looking for almost an hour, maybe more.<p>

Ralph looked back at Felix with a glare, "Intimidation got you out of the Fungeon, and it will help me find that no good son of a-"

"Ralph watch your potty-mouth," Felix scolded. Ralph stormed away, "Jimmany-jamminy, he needs to keep that temper under control."

"You should see Taffyta after a prank, now _that's _a temper." Felix turned to see Gloyd, where did he come from?

"You might want to get out of here before Ralph sees you." Felix warned, Gloyd nodded.

"I know," Felix noted that his tone sounded like he didn't care if Ralph saw him, "I just thought I would hand this off to you." Gloyd handed Felix an unsealed envelope, "Give this to Vanellope the next time you see her okay."

"Sure," Felix said accepting the letter. "So what does it-"

"Okay Felix I don't think he's- YOU!" Ralph screamed when his eyes fell of Gloyd, "Oh it's game over for you now!"

"Oh crap," he said before he turned around and took off running. Ralph followed after him literally leaving Felix in the dust.

Sighing he looked down at the envelope in his hand. The fact that it was unsealed was incredibly tempting, "No, no I can't pry into their privacy." Felix said, but what if it said something horrible? Maybe he could check it before Vanellope read it. That was slightly justifying his action. He opened the letter and began to read.

His eyes slowly widened and his focus intensified with every sentence and paragraph he red. His jaw was open by the time he finished the letter, "Oh… my… land." He said slowly. He had to get this letter to Vanellope and quick.

* * *

><p>Gloyd was dodging everything Ralph was throwing at him. He was seeing why Vanellope considered Ralph an over-protective brother. Gloyd moved behind a giant gumdrop hoping it would offer some protection. Ralph easily lifted the gumdrop into the air and tossed it aside like it weighed as much as a softball, "You have two chances to convince me that I shouldn't crush you right now."<p>

Gloyd looked up at Ralph in fear, the upgrade made Gloyd a little taller, but Ralph still towered over him by a few a few feet. "Because I'm sorry for what I did to Vanellope." Ralph grabbed his jacket and lifted him up, his face not far from his. "Man, if you're crushing won't get me. Your breath certainly will." He commented softly.

Ralph narrowed his eyes, "You're not doing a good job of selling yourself, one chance left." Ralph said.

Gloyd's fear dropped and was replaced by defeat, "Because we're still in Sugar Rush."

Ralph raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Gloyd looked down, "If you're going to crush me, it would be best if you did it outside Sugar Rush."

Ralph's eyes widened and he dropped Gloyd, was he serious? No, he couldn't be. If Ralph crushed him outside Sugar Rush, then he wouldn't regenerate. Does he know that?

"Kid, you know what happens when you die outside your own game right?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah," he said, "So?" Was he really regretting what he did, to the point that he _doesn't_ want to regenerate. Gloyd sighed, "Well if you're not going to do it, maybe I can try Calhoun later. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to do it." he turned around and walked away, his shoulders slightly slouched with his hands in his pockets.

Ralph couldn't believe this was the same Gloyd that had enough guts to prank Calhoun, this was supposed to be the racer that enjoyed life and ran around with an excited spring to his step after pulling a prank, and now he looked like… Ralph did before he tried to win a medal. Curious, Ralph followed the prankster.

* * *

><p>Calhoun and Vanellope were enjoying a few laughs forgetting about the drama that happened earlier, when a knock sounded at the door, "Vanellope," Sour Bill's voiced sounded from the other side of the door, "Some of the racers are here and want to talk to you, I tried to tell them you were busy, but their persistence says it's important."<p>

"Want me to scare them off," Calhoun asked tapping the gun at her belt.

Vanellope smiled, "No, I'm sure I can handle it." she said getting off the bed and walking towards the door.

* * *

><p>Sour Bill led her to the room where a few of the racers waited. The racers present were Taffyta, Rancis, Candlehead, Swizzle, Minty, and Jubileena. They looked slightly worried, and a little confused.<p>

"What is it now?" Vanellope asked as she closed the door behind her.

"It's about Gloyd." Swizz said.

Vanellope groaned, "Is he still pulling pranks?" She really didn't want to talk about him right now.

"No," Swizzle answered and Vanellope raised an eyebrow.

"Then what is the problem?" she asked.

"The problem is something's wrong with my best friend!" Swizzle shouted.

Vanellope laughed slightly, not believing what he was saying "Swizz I'm sure he's fine."

"No I think he's right," Taffyta said. When Vanellope gave her a curious look she continued, "I saw Gloyd in the Candy Tree Forest, he was watching me and Rancis. He had every opportunity to prank us and he didn't."

Vanellope shrugged, "Maybe he was trying to be nice and not ruin your moment for once."

"Okay, maybe," Swizzle said, "But answer this, why would Gloyd turn down a chance to rig the party supplies and prank people at the ball?" he didn't give her a chance to answer, "He wouldn't, so why did he just tell me he wasn't in the mood for pranking." That got Vanellope's attention, but she didn't try to show it.

Jubileena and Minty looked at Swizzle, "You were planning to rig the supplies?" Misty asked.

Swizzle smiled nervously, "Well um… that's not important." He turned toward the president, "Vanellope, what did you tell Gloyd?"

"I asked him to tone down his pranks like you guys said. I'm sure he's just a little upset and will be back to normal in a few days. He's fine." In truth, Vanellope was a little concerned for Gloyd. It was odd that he would turn down the chance to pull a prank, especially for something as big as the Sugar Rush Ball. She thought there was no way she did this. All she did was tell Gloyd to tone down his pranks… right?

"Vanellope!" Felix shouted as he ran into the room, "I talked to Gloyd and he wanted me to give you this." He said handing her the letter. She looked down at the letter curious, and a little scared of what it might hold. "Vanellope, you don't have to read it now. But I find it necessary that you do read it and not rip it up as soon as I leave." Vanellope put the letter into the pocket of her hoodie.

* * *

><p>Ralph was following Gloyd for a few minutes when he stopped, "Why are you following me?" he asked, "Have you decided to crush me?"<p>

Ralph shook his head, then nearly hit himself because he knew Gloyd wasn't looking at him, "No, but I am going to help you."

He turned and gave a short laugh, "Well that's impossible, since the only way you can help me is by crushing me. Nobody wants me around, I'm just a bad guy." Ralph gave him a disappointed and sympathetic look.

"Look kid, I get why you're feeling like this, but acting like this isn't going to make you feel better. Believe me I've been there." Gloyd looked down and sighed. "Plus we bad guys have to stick together." Gloyd gave a slight laugh.

"You hungry?" Ralph was surprised by the question, "I bake when I'm upset and I always make too much and most of it usually goes to waste. So you hungry?" Ralph thought for a moment, he didn't eat any of the snacks at Bad-a-Non, not that they usually had any good ones anyway. He shrugged and nodded, "Cool follow me."

* * *

><p>There wasn't much conversation between the two as Gloyd led the wrecker to his house. Gloyd opened the door and went inside. After some struggling with getting through the doorway, Ralph followed and immediately hit by the smell of baked good and sweets.<p>

"What's cooking?" he asked.

"A lot actually. My code has a love for all different kinds of candy, but some just doesn't satisfy, so using stuff found in Sugar Rush. I make my own sweets." He said walking into the kitchen. Ralph walked in and the amount of sweets in the room surprised him, "Thirsty? Chasing after me must've been exhausting." He said as he mixed something together.

"Sure," Ralph said still looking around the room. There were entire plates stacked with brownies, cookies, cupcakes, and other desserts. Each batch unique in their own way. Some had sprinkles, a few had swirls in them, others had frosting, many had different colors, and there were some that were combinations.

"Wow, you either have a lot of time on your hands, or get upset a lot." Ralph commented.

Gloyd walked over to the wrecker a mug in each hand. "A combination of both really, whether it be losing races or staying hidden after pranks." He handed Ralph a mug. There was a white frothy drink with an orange tint to it with a small amount of spice swirling in the drink.

"What is this?" Ralph asked.

Gloyd took a sip of his drink, "One of my own creations. It's a Vanilla Pumpkin Spice Malt, drink it it's good." Ralph shrugged and took a sip. It was really good, he chugged the entire thing in an instant.

"Man this is almost better than Tapper's Root Beer." Ralph said and Gloyd gave a small smile, "You know, Pac man could clear most of this stuff in a jiffy, why don't you have him take it off your hands?" Gloyd looked offended.

"That cherry-chasing dot muncher? No way am I giving it to him." Ralph laughed, he was starting to see a lot of himself in this kid.

A small squeaking was heard and a small grey animal flew into the room. Ralph almost jumped through the ceiling, "What was that?" Ralph asked

Gloyd whistled and the small animal landed on his shoulder. It was a furry grey bat with a tiny candy corn crown on his head, "This is Spook, my pet bat and one of my best friends."

"A bat?" Ralph questioned, "Makes sense." He looked around the room at all the sweets, then at Gloyd who was playing with Spook. He grabbed a cookie that was on a nearby plate, it was pretty good. Too bad most of this stuff went to waste. Then he got an idea, one that would help him, Gloyd, and all the treats that were gonna go to waste. "Hey kid, I have an idea." Gloyd looked at the wrecker curiously, "Have you ever been to a Bad-Anon meeting?"

* * *

><p>It had been a few days since Vanellope told Gloyd she hated him, and nobody could tell what was up with Gloyd. He wasn't the only one that had been a little down. Some of the racers noticed that in some cases. Vanellope was a little down herself. Vanellope hadn't read her letter from Gloyd, she came close to a few times, but she didn't want to face what the letter might have inside it right now.<p>

Vanellope was currently with Taffyta and Candlehead, who insisted that they go shopping for dresses for the ball, which was the day after tomorrow. Dress shopping was something that Vanellope wasn't too fond of. "C'mon Vanellope, as Princess of Sugar Rush, you have to look your best."

"I'm not a princess, I'm President." She corrected.

"Well the code says you're a princess so it mean you have to be a princess." Taffyta said, "But don't worry, once we find you a great dress. You'll be able to catch a special someone's eye."

"Why would I want that?" she said.

Candlehead smiled, "Well it is a dance, so you might as well dance with someone special." Vanellope's thoughts went to Gloyd, but she shook them off. She didn't like Gloyd, she hated him, but he kept coming to her thoughts ever since Felix gave her that letter, "Unless you already have someone in mind."

Vanellope blushed, "Look let's just find a dress and get this over with." Taffyta and Candlehead giggled.

* * *

><p>Gloyd exited the entrance to Sugar Rush where he found Ralph waiting for him, today was Bad-Anon. normally it would be in two days, but with the Sugar Rush Ball. The bad guys thought it would be best to have the meeting earlier in the week, "Would you mind helping me with the snacks?" he said gesturing to the Kart behind him.<p>

"Sure," Gloyd grabbed a few boxes and handed them to Ralph.

"So you really think this is going to help?" Gloyd asked handing him the last of the boxes.

Ralph easily carried all the boxes, "Trust me, Bad-Anon is just what you need. Though I do have to warn you, some of them can be a little wild." He said as they walked to the entrance to Pac man. "You're also doing me a favor, I hate being in charge of snacks." Gloyd gave a half smile. That was really all you could get out of him now.

* * *

><p>After a much hated 'Random' Security Check. Ralph and Gloyd were boarding the train to Pac man's maze. When Ralph and Gloyd got to the center of the maze, they found the orange ghost Clyde waiting for them.<p>

"Ralph, you're early." He said, "I see you've brought the snacks, and a friend." Gloyd waved a hand. "What's your name kid?"

"Gloyd Orangeboar." He responded.

"The racer with a death wish?" he asked. Gloyd raised an eyebrow, "Everybody knows about that little prank you pulled on Sgt. Calhoun. You got guts kid, I'm sure the other bad guys will be glad to meet you."

* * *

><p>The other bad guys arrived shortly after Ralph and Gloyd unloaded all the snacks, "Ralph, I see you brought friend." Zangief said clapping the wrecker on the back. "Wait, You're racer with death wish." Gloyd was starting to get used to his 'title', but he would prefer to be called by his real name.<p>

Some of the other bad guys heard Zangief say his title and a few got closer. One of the bad guys or girl floated toward him. She had blue skin, dark blue hair, and a pair of blood red eyes that sent shivers down Gloyd's spine. She held out a hand, "Good evening, my name is Sorceress." She said in a surprisingly warm and polite voice.

Gloyd shook the outstretched, "I'm Gloyd." He released the hand and turned to the other bad guys, "I would appreciate it that you call my Gloyd and not 'Racer with a death wish'." Gloyd shivered, "And I don't recommend pulling that stunt, I'm sure Calhoun is convinced I'm a Cy-Bug in a boy's body." Some of them laughed.

Cyborg clapped Gloyd on the back. The prankster flinched slightly from the impact of the metal arm, "You're alright kid, but why is someone like you here at Bad-Anon?"

Gloyd sighed, "Well why don't you grab some snacks and get settled in. then you might want to get comfortable, it's a long story." Ralph raised an eyebrow, was there something Gloyd was worried about _outside _Vanellope hating him, or maybe there was more to this then he knew.

* * *

><p>Vanellope was back in her room putting her dress in the closet. It took an eternity, but Vanellope had finally found a dress that fit her 'rules', even though she wouldn't say it out loud. She actually liked wearing it. Taffyta and Candlehead said she looked pretty in it, but when they told her that. Her mind started asking herself if Gloyd would think she looked pretty in it.<p>

She shook her head, _'Get a hold over yourself, Gloyd isn't even your friend anymore.'_ Vanellope stopped. She never really realized that until now, Gloyd wasn't her friend anymore… was he. Vanellope sat on her bed and put her head in her hands. She didn't know what to think anymore. A few days ago Vanellope hated his guts, and now she couldn't stop thinking about him.

Vanellope sighed, "What am I supposed to do?" she asked herself, then her eyes fell on the letter. Should she? Maybe it would help a little, but it might make things worse too. Pushing her thoughts aside she grabbed the envelope and took the letter out of it.

* * *

><p>Everybody was in their chairs and enjoying their snacks, waiting for Gloyd to start. "Well, like I said earlier. My name is Gloyd." He started, "I'm a racer from Sugar Rush. In Sugar Rush, we don't really have any bad guys, but in a lot of cases. I'm the closest thing you can get to a bad guy in Sugar Rush, but not for the reason you might think I think like that." The bad guys looked at him in confusion, "It started not long after King Candy began his rule."<p>

* * *

><p>Vanellope hesitated, did she really want to read it. What if Gloyd insulted her with it? What if it was a… love letter? Decided she would argue with herself later she unfolded the letter. It was written in Dark Orange ink. Gloyd had surprisingly neat handwriting for a boy.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Hey Princess,<em>

* * *

><p>Vanellope narrowed her eyes, "I'm not a princess." She continued to read.<p>

* * *

><p><em>I know you don't like it when I call you Princess, but I feel that it's my nickname for you so I'm going to stick with it. Vanellope; I'm writing you this for two reasons. 1) I don't think there's any way I'd have enough guts to tell you this face-to-face. 2) You probably hate me to the point that you wouldn't listen to me even if I tried to talk to you.<em>

* * *

><p>"Well you got that right." She said to herself, but why did she feel like she was lying by agreeing with him.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Your words really impacted me, especially the part about being a bad guy, but what I want to tell you is about the glitch thing. Look, I never thought you were a glitch. Not even when King Candy was in charge.<em>

* * *

><p>"What?" Vanellope said in shock.<p>

* * *

><p><em>During a race, I saw you climbing the Candy Trees in order to watch us race. I was always curious as to who you were. So one day I asked King Candy. He immediately told me that you were a mistake and that I was to never talk about you again. So I stayed silent, but you were always on my mind.<em>

* * *

><p>Vanellope blushed when she read this, <em>'Really, he was thinking of me?' <em>She almost forgot that she was supposed to hate him for a second.

* * *

><p><em>The first time you came to us asking if you could race. I felt excited at the prospect of a new racer. Then King Candy told everyone that you couldn't race and that you didn't belong here. I didn't understand it, you didn't seem like a glitch. Sure you had some pixlexia, but that was it. After the arcade closed the next day I went to King Candy asking him if you could race at least once. He was angry at me and threw me in the Fungeon for the day. I tried a few more times, but they always had the same result. When the other racer asked me what I was doing, I would just tell them I was pranking King Candy.<em>

* * *

><p>"He went through that… for me?" Vanellope questioned.<p>

* * *

><p>"-I would spend long hours in the Fungeon thinking of reasons as to why King Candy wouldn't let her race." Gloyd said, "I would also ask myself why I was trying so hard to give her an opportunity to race." Ralph was listening with much interest. He always thought everyone was against Vanellope, but if Gloyd said this was true. Why didn't he do anything?<p>

* * *

><p>Vanellope continued to read thinking the same thing Ralph was.<p>

* * *

><p><em>I tried to talk the racers into letting you race, but they were convinced you were nothing but a glitch. When they started questioning why I was trying to help you, I became scared that I would become an outcast.<em>

* * *

><p>Vanellope scoffed, "What's that supposed to-" She stopped when she read the next sentence. <em>'If I became an outcast I wouldn't be able to help you.' <em> Her jaw dropped.

* * *

><p><em>I decided to stop openly trying, hoping that things would go right eventually; and they did. When you bought yourself a spot in the Random Roster Race, I was happy. You were finally going to be able to race, but then Taffyta and her cronies came to the rest of us saying we had to stop you from racing. They wanted me to help them break your kart, saying we had to follow King Candy's orders that said that glitches couldn't race.<em>

* * *

><p>"So it all goes back to King Candy." Vanellope said. She still couldn't believe what Gloyd was telling her.<p>

* * *

><p>Ralph could barely believe it, and he could see the truth in Gloyd's words as he spoke. "When they asked me to help them, I was unsure." He said as he continued his tale.<p>

* * *

><p>Vanellope continued to read soaking up every word written on the page.<p>

* * *

><p><em>I wanted to refuse, but if I did. They would grow suspicious, so I had no choice but to go forward with it, but believe me when I say that I hated every second of it. And after Ralph chased me away, for the first time in my life. I didn't want to participate in the Random Roster Race.<em>

* * *

><p>"Yep, you heard right." Gloyd said seeing the looks everybody gave him, "How could I race after going through with something like that?" Gloyd was surprising Ralph with every sentence. Purposely not wanting to race to be one of the day's avatars? To him it was completely unheard of, well to him anyways.<p>

* * *

><p>Vanellope almost dropped the letter. If one of the racers didn't race in the Random Roster Race, it was because they couldn't. Nobody purposely wanted to skip the Triple R. she looked back at where she left off.<p>

* * *

><p><em>I was to talk to King Candy about taking my name off the board when I heard news that you had broken into the Kart Bakery and made your own kart. At first I was concerned, but then I realized it. You were still going to race. I was so excited I was convinced my pixels were going to start glitching.<em>

* * *

><p>Vanellope found herself laughing, "Classic Gloyd."<p>

* * *

><p><em>When you didn't show up for the Triple R, I was worried you were a no show, but that couldn't be it. Past experience told me you were no quitter. When the race started I took off hoping to get a good head start, but I was easily out of the race after King Candy blasted me with a Sweet Seeker(they always get me). I was disappointed that I was out of the race, but I immediately perked up. Because it was then that I saw you speed down Gumball Gorge in your kart. I could barely believe how good you were. At that point I thought this was your first day of racing, but with the skills you were driving with you were giving King Candy a run for his money.<em>

* * *

><p>Vanellope felt her cheeks burn and the praise. "Too bad he couldn't tell me that in person." Vanellope's eyes widened at what she just said. No, no, she hated him… right? She turned back to the letter.<p>

* * *

><p><em>I returned to the finish line wanting to see you get 1<em>_st__ place at the Finish Line. At this point there was no chance you were going to get anything less than that. I got back just in time to see King Candy ram your kart. I was surprised out of my mind when your glitching revealed who King Candy really was. Turns out I was right, you weren't the glitch in this game; __**he was**__. And even though he'll never regenerate, I'll never forgive him for what he did to you. I couldn't care less about what happened to me, that virus doesn't deserve __**any **__form of forgiveness._

* * *

><p>"-and I can guarantee you that I'm not alone when I say I'll never forgive that virus." Gloyd said, he didn't realize it, but he was now walking around the room as he spoke totally into what he was saying. Ralph found it amusing, wishing he had a recorder so Vanellope could hear this.<p>

* * *

><p>Vanellope smiled sweetly at the piece of paper. Gloyd really could be sweet when he wanted to be, and the fact that he didn't care about the stuff that happened to him made a lot to her.<p>

* * *

><p><em>I wanted to stay and see you win, but Calhoun was forcing us to evacuate and I didn't get the chance. I was on my way to Game Central Station when I turned around to see that you couldn't leave the game. I wanted nothing but to run back there and help you, but I knew it was hopeless. I wanted to try, but the flood of citizens was pushing me back. When I got through and ran back I saw that you were gone, and so was Ralph. Then I saw the beacon(or geyser) erupting from Diet Cola Mountain and that all the Cy-Bugs were getting destroyed by it. I ran back and got the other racers and we literally raced back to the Finish Line.<em>

_We got there just as you were crossing the Finish Line. The entire scene lit up as the game reset itself. When the glow faded we were surprised, especially me. I remembered who you were. You were Princess Vanellope Von Schweetz, I was too stunned to say anything. When you said you were going to execute us. I thought you wouldn't have too, I just about had a heart attack._

* * *

><p>Most of the bad guys laughed when Gloyd told him that, his already orange cheeks did a good job of hiding him blushing in embarrassment.<p>

* * *

><p>Vanellope laughed out loud, "Man I sure got those guys good."<p>

* * *

><p><em>I was never more happier when you ditched that princess dress and showed the real you. I knew that the Vanellope I knew was still around. It was amusing to see you and Ralph call each other nicknames. Though I'm not sure what was so funny about Ralph's duty, but I'm sure one day I'll figure it out.<em>

* * *

><p>Vanellope rolled her eyes, "Not likely," it was her and Ralph's inside joke and she was sure nobody would figure it out.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>(A.N. this next part is Gloyd speaking and Vanellope reading simultaneously, imaging some sort of a split screen or faded image of Vanellope sitting in the Bad-Anon room.)<strong>

"A day doesn't go by that I don't regret what I did and didn't do. That last thing I think about when I go to sleep at night and the first thing when I wake up in the morning is the day I helped destroy the kart, and now with the recent events. I now have something even larger to regret. It's the truth, I am a bad guy, and now all I can think about is how things will turn out."

**(A.N. End of simultaneous scene)**

* * *

><p>Vanellope felt tears come to her eyes and she read the last paragraph.<p>

* * *

><p><em>I'll never consider you a glitch, never have and most definitely never will. The reason I don't prank you is because I feel too guilty to prank you. I admit I went crazy with the pranks, I thought I was having fun, but I was only causing damage. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you, but it looks like I didn't do a good job of that. I hope you can forgive me.<em>

_Your friend, Gloyd._

* * *

><p>Gloyd sighed, "And that's why I consider myself a bad guy, because it's the truth. I try to help, but I just make a mess of everything. What I do is part of my code, and now I'm paying the price for it." Gloyd finished and there was a silent moment before everybody in the room clapped.<p>

"Nice share Gloyd," Clyde said from across the room, "You obviously had a lot you needed to let out," Gloyd nodded, "Well if you ever need anybody to talk you, you're always welcome here and Bad-Anon." Gloyd smiled.

"Just as long as you do snacks." Zangief said holding up a half-eaten cookie and Gloyd laughed, not a snicker or a chuckle, but a real laugh. Ralph smiled, he knew this was just what he needed. Some of the other bad guys found Gloyd's laugh contagious and they joined in.

* * *

><p>Vanellope lowered the letter, eyes wide, cheeks blushing and mouth open. After what she just read, she wanted nothing but to apologize to Gloyd, but yet she couldn't. Something was stopping her, but she couldn't place what.<p>

"Miss President," Vanellope jumped and hid the letter behind her back out of reflex. She sighed it relief when she saw it was Sour Bill, "The arcade is going to open in an hour, I think you should get ready."

"I'll be right there." She said and she looked down at the letter. She put it back in the envelope and placed it on her bedside table before following Sour Bill.

* * *

><p>"Okay guys, the arcade's going to open soon so why don't we close out with the bad guy affirmation." Clyde said as everyone stood up and joined hands, or whenever they had for limbs.<p>

All of them accept Gloyd said their motto, "I'm bad, and that's good. I'll never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me." Gloyd listened to the saying with great interest. Is that how the bad guys stay positive about themselves?

He was so deep in thought he didn't notice the other bad guys were leaving, "Hey kid ya coming?" Gloyd looked up to see Ralph waiting for him.

"Be right with you Herald Halitosis." Gloyd laughed as he ran ahead of him. Ralph's eyebrow raised at the nickname before chuckling. This was the Gloyd that he was used to.

* * *

><p>Gloyd and Ralph talked and shared some laughs the whole way back to the train to Game Central Station. When they arrived at the entrance there was the familiar sound of the Surge Protector.<p>

"Step aside sir," Surge said, "Random Security Check."

"Must we do this again Surge?" Ralph asked.

Surge sighed, "Mr. Wreck-it, I think you'll be happy to know that this security check isn't for you." He pointed at Gloyd, "It's for him."

"Oh c'mon, just when I thought you started to ignore me." he said.

"Kid I'm just doing my job, name?" he asked.

"Bowser." Gloyd replied. Ralph chuckled.

"Name?" he said in a more urging voice.

Gloyd sighed, "Gloyd Orangeboar."

"Where you coming from?" he said.

Gloyd pointed behind him, "Pac man, what are you blind?"

Surge ignored his question, "You bring any fruit with you?"

Gloyd face-palmed, "Use common sense, do I look like I could hide any fruit on me?" Surge just made a motion with his hand, "No I didn't bring any fruit with me."

"Where you headed?"

"Sugar Rush."

"Anything to declare?" he said asking the final question.

"Nobody likes you," Gloyd shot back, Surge told him to proceed and he transported away. Gloyd made sure he was gone, then he took off his hat and pulled a cherry out of it.

Ralph's jaw dropped, "When did you grab that?" Gloyd smirked tearing a piece off of the cherry and Ralph chuckled, "Okay you're definitely a bad guy, you like to cause a little trouble, you've gone to Bad-Anon, got stopped by the Surge Protector, and managed to sneak some of Pac man's cherries out of his game." Gloyd shrugged and put the piece of cherry in his mouth.

"Ralph?" the wrecker turned around and saw Sorceress, "I just wanted to saw what you've done for Gloyd was really sweet." Ralph rubbed that back of his head and blushed.

"It's nothing really." Ralph said, Sorceress giggled and batted her eyelashes a little.

"Well, you know the Sugar Rush Ball?" Ralph nodded, "Save a dance for me?" Ralph was dumbfounded.

"Y-yeah sure," he replied and Sorceress gave him a smile before floating away. Ralph had a ridiculous smile on his face. Someone cleared his throat, Ralph jumped and turned around. Gloyd was still standing there.

"Don't mind me, I was just enjoying the show." Ralph narrowed his eyes.

"You know, you're making the option of crushing you seem very tempting right now." Ralph said a Gloyd laughed.

When Ralph raised a fist Gloyd held up a hand, "Okay, I was just kidding. Loosen up a little."

"Well, at least I don't comment about your little crush on Vanellope." Gloyd's eyes widened and his orange cheeks went red-orange. Ralph smirked, "What you thought I didn't notice the way you were talking about her?"

"Well uh- Oh look!" he said looking at a non-existent watch, "The arcade's about to open, I better get back to my game." He rushed off almost dropping the partially eaten cherry.

Ralph chuckled, "Kids." He said to himself while walking towards Fix-it-Felix Jr.

* * *

><p>Today was as popular as any normal day, and as usual. Vanellope was the most chosen racer the entire day, but there was something different about today. Something noticed by all the other racers; Gloyd's attitude. He was acting and racing like his normal self. He was speeding ahead, avoiding obstacles and actually came close to winning a few races. Even to the point that a couple kids chose him to be their avatar.<p>

* * *

><p>The last race of the day ended with Gloyd coming in first as Moppet Girl's avatar. Vanellope looked at Gloyd in surprise, what had gotten into him? He seemed exactly like his old self, but something was… <em>different<em> about him.

* * *

><p>When the arcade closed the other racers congratulated Gloyd on his big win, "Not bad Orangeboar," Taffyta said, "But it's not gonna earn you any advantage in the Triple R." Rancis nodded in agreement.<p>

Gloyd smirked at the couple, "Is that a challenge?" Taffyta and Rancis Smirked confirming his question, "Well challenge accepted Butter Pops." He laughed at the reaction the nickname got. Vanellope laughed a little, she was definitely using that one.

She walked forward, "You did good out there Gourdbrain." She said. Gloyd smiled at her, which caused her to blush.

"Thanks Princess," he said, "It means a lot coming from you." Vanellope's blush deepened and Gloyd climbed into his kart, "Well I'll see you girls later, the guys and I still need to pick up our outfits for the Sugar Rush Ball." He said before driving off.

"That's right," Rancis said, "Weird how it was Gloyd that remembered." Rancis turned back towards Taffyta, "I'll be back as soon as I can." He said before kissing her. Some of the girls 'awwed' at the scene.

Swizzle rolled his, "Come on lover boy, we need to catch up with Gloyd." Rancis separated from Taffyta and climbed into his kart before driving off with Swizzle following him.

The image of Rancis kissing Taffyta stayed in Vanellope's mind, she wasn't jealous. Of course not, but she started to wish that it was Gloyd kissing her instead of Rancis kissing Taffyta. She blushed at the thought, "Vanellope, you okay?" Candlehead asked, "You're looking a little red."

"Oh I'm just hot from all the racing today. Gloyd was really keeping me on my toes." It was a believable excuse.

She nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it was surprising. I can't remember the last time Gloyd put so much effort into racing."

Taffyta walked towards them, "Well I think he was putting as much effort into his racing during Vanellope's first race, I guess we didn't notice since he was knocked out so early." Taffyta thought for a minute, "It was weird, it was almost as if he was trying to prove something. Or maybe try to impress someone?" She said looking at Vanellope.

She looked away to hide her blush, she glitched a little, "Don't know what you're talking about."

Vanellope could feel them smiling at her, "Looks like someone's in love." Taffyta said in a sing-song voice.

She turned around, "With Gloyd? No way." Her blush increased.

Taffyta smirked, "Face it president, Gloyd's gotten under your pixels."

Candlehead smiled, "Aww, that's so sweet."

Vanellope waved her hands in front of her in a cutting motion, "No, no, no. You guys are dead wrong." The two girls only started laughing.

"Denial's the clincher," Candlehead said.

Taffyta nodded, "You are head-over-heels Vanellope."

She was about to contradict, but the two of them started to sing, _"Gloyd and Vanellope, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."_

Vanellope rolled her eyes, "Real mature guys." She said climbing into her kart, but she couldn't shake the thought out of her head that she might be in love with Gloyd.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile with the boys, who were picking out their tuxes for the ball, "So Gloyd you were on fire today." Swizzle remarked.<p>

Gloyd looked up from the rack, "You really think so?"

"Yeah," Rancis said, "There were times that even Vanellope couldn't get ahead of you unless she glitched. What's gotten into you? You've never raced like that before."

Gloyd turned his attention to the rack, "Never had a reason to race like that before."

Swizzle smirked, "This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain president, would it?" Gloyd didn't answer, "Oh so it does have to do with her."

"Oh shut up." Gloyd said, Rancis saw an opportunity.

"So you do like her." Rancis stated rather than asked.

Gloyd blushed, "No I don't."

Rancis nudged Swizzle's shoulder, "Oh so you love her." Both of them laughed.

"J-just, s-shut up." He stammered, it was hard for him to speak from the embarrassment. The other two racers added more to his embarrassment by singing.

"_Princess I love you. Oh Princess I do." _Rancis started using a horrible impression of Gloyd's voice and Swizzle joined in, _"When we're apart my heart beats only for you."_ They cracked down laughing after that.

"Oh that's really mature guys." Gloyd said sarcastically. Trying to focus on picking a suit, but he could tell this was going to be a long shopping trip.

* * *

><p>When Ralph heard the announcement that the arcade was closed. He and Felix left the game and stopped by Hero's Duty to pick up Calhoun, they all wanted to see Vanellope participate in the Triple R, but Ralph had another reason for wanting to go to Sugar Rush. Before he was thrown off the roof, Ralph had a perfect view of Sugar Rush and was surprised to see Gloyd racing as the player's Avatar. Sometimes he would see one player playing Vanellope and the other would play Gloyd. He wanted to see what had gotten into that pumpkin of a prankster.<p>

* * *

><p>When the three of them walked through the entrance to Sugar Rush, Ralph was happy that he wasn't stopped by Surge. They got down to the track and was immediately greeted by Vanellope, "Hey guys, I was starting to think you wouldn't make it."<p>

"And miss a chance to see you beat those cavities," Ralph said, "Not a chance."

"Well that's not very nice now is it," they turned to see Gloyd climbing out of his kart, "Hey guys." He gave a slight wave, only to dive out of the way before a plasma blast got him, "Nice to see you too." He said sarcastically, Calhoun cursed saying she missed.

"What are you doing her Gourdbrain," Vanellope asked.

"Well Princess," Gloyd said, "The other racers sent me to remind you that you have a Triple R to start." He climbed into the Kernel, "See you at the racetrack." He said before driving off.

"Next time I won't miss." Calhoun said mainly to herself.

"Oh come on Tammy," Felix said, "He was just trying to have a bit of fun, plus it only happened once."

Calhoun started to walk towards the stands, "The fact that it happened once proves that I can be pranked." Ralph and Vanellope laughed a little.

"Well I'm sure you'll get you chance one day," Vanellope said, "But for now I need him alive so I can beat him in the race." She got into her kart. "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>About ten minutes later, all the racers had gone through the 'Pay to Play' thing and were just waiting for the race to start. Gloyd revved his engine, "Get ready to eat my crumbs." Taffyta called to Gloyd.<p>

He smirked as he watch the light go from red to yellow, "Get ready to be picked out of my teeth." He shot back and he hit the gas as the light went green and the race started shooting forward hoping to get a great head start in the race. Taffyta for a second didn't see the light go green, but she quickly hit the gas and sped forward to catch up.

* * *

><p>As the racers approached Gumball Gorge, Gloyd had gotten a pretty good lead and was fighting to keep it. Vanellope was quick to catch up and was close behind Gloyd when they reached the first set of Power Ups. Both of them grabbed a Power Up. Vanellope unwrapped hers, 'Ice Cream Cannon'. Vanellope was hoping for a Sweet Seeker, but this would do the job. The cone shaped cannon appeared on her kart and she aimed at Gloyd.<p>

"Get ready to lose the lead." Vanellope said before firing.

Gloyd looked at his rearview mirror and smirked, "We'll see about that Princess." He looked forward and saw the yellow speed path leading out of the Gumball Gorge. He unwrapped his own Power Up; 'Sugar Rush'. "Perfect, now wait for it." he said waiting for the opportune moment. Right when it seemed that the ice cream was going to hit him. he activated his Sugar Rush and speed out of harm's way and strait onto the speed path increasing his speed even more.

Vanellope was surprised by his use of strategy, turns out his prankster mind thought of more than just jokes and pranks. In her mirrors she saw Rancis and Taffyta's karts catching up to her. She continued to race, but when they got close she called out to them, "Gloyd's got a few tricks up his sleeve, be on the lookout." Vanellope hit the yellow speed path and now could see Gloyd speeding toward Swirling Mountain. Vanellope adjusted her clutch and she speed forward, Gloyd was fast, but he wasn't as coordinated with sharp turns as they were.

* * *

><p>Gloyd was forced to slow his speed a little to be able to smoothly navigate the sharp turns. Not many could handle the Kernel like he could, but long twists and sharp turns were the glitch in his racing technique. He was nearing the top when he heard the kart. His mirrors showed Vanellope, Rancis, and Taffyta's karts approaching him. he wanted to speed up, but he didn't want to lose control. The three racers passed him just as he was coming into the tunnel that lead to the jump.<p>

"See you at the finish line." Rancis called out as he drove past. Gloyd growled and he increased his speed no longer having to worry about the turns. He went off the giant jump and safely made the landing and put the pedal to the metal to catch up to the leaders.

They were in the Ice Cream Mountain Range, Gloyd knew if he didn't think of something quick or he would never catch up. Then he saw some signs blocking a path going off the road. Then he got an idea, he didn't entirely like it, but he was going to pull a King Candy.

* * *

><p>Taffyta looked in her rearview mirror, she could see Rancis, but not Gloyd. Did he not make the jump? "Do you guys see Gloyd?" she said to the others.<p>

"No," They answered. Vanellope was a little concerned, what happened to him?

They drove into the cave where King Candy was revealed to be Turbo. They drove down the steep drop and they picked up speed, "Let's just focus on winning this race."

"Do you hear something?" Rancis asked. Taffyta and Vanellope listened close and heard… a kart engine?

The three racers looked around, "In coming!" Gloyd suddenly came into view jumping off a hidden track and landing just behind them, "Can't get rid of me that easy." He said with that prankster grin on his face.

"Man he's better than I thought." Vanellope said quietly. As she focused on the track in front of her.

* * *

><p>They exited the cave and passed through the last set of Power Ups just as Gloyd was catching up to Rancis. "Terribly sorry about this." He called out before bumping the back wheels of the Kit Kart sending Rancis spinning behind him.<p>

Gloyd pulled ahead as Rancis was gaining control, when he did he looked down at his Power Up, "Not as sorry as I am," he opened it, 'Sweet Seekers'. The bazooka appeared and he took aim, when the weapon locked he fired.

Gloyd saw the projectiles. He opened his Power Up. It was a long shot. But it might work. He threw the Power Up behind him, 'Cherry Bomb'. The missiles came in contact with the explosive fruit and there was an explosion that rocked Gloyd's kart a little, but he sped toward the two leaders who weren't that far from the Finish Line.

* * *

><p>Taffyta saw the explosion behind her and was scared, but she was relieved when she saw Rancis speed out of the smoke cloud. She almost didn't notice Gloyd come up beside her; almost. They were right next to each other heading for the Finish Line, it was hard to tell which of them was in the lead.<p>

They crossed the Finish Line just after Vanellope did. Both of them then turned and skidded to a stop next to their president. Both of them looked up at the Jumbotron to see which of them got 2nd place. It was by a bumper, but Taffyta barely pulled ahead of Gloyd at the last second.

Taffyta cheered and so did her fans, Rancis crossed the finish line putting him in 4th place. When he saw the board he jumped out of his kart, Taffyta jumped out of hers and rushed to meet her boyfriend who enveloped her in a hug, "Great job Taffyta." Taffyta returned the hug with a smile.

* * *

><p>Gloyd got out of his kart and folded his arms, "So close," he muttered. Vanellope laughed as she climbed out of her kart.<p>

She gave Gloyd's arm a playful punch, "Oh come on don't be such a Sour Patch." Gloyd took of his racing helmet and shaking his head to loosen up his hair. He tossed his helmet into his kart. Gloyd looked at Vanellope, and she had to admit, he looked rather cute without his hat.

"Okay, but next time. I'm leaving her in the dust." He said while putting on his hat. Then he noticed something and looked like he was trying to hold back a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Gloyd pointed at Rancis. Vanellope looked and started to laugh.

The couple separated and looked at them, "Okay what's so funny?" Taffyta asked.

"Nothing." Gloyd said, "But I gotta say, that's a good look for you Rancis." Vanellope could no longer hold back her laughs.

Rancis ran to a nearby kart and looked in the mirror, he had taken his helmet off, but the explosion made the bottom part of his face, which wasn't protected by the helmet, black with candy soot. Rancis shot an angry glare at Gloyd.

"A little water should clear that up in no time," he said humorously. Rancis continued to glare at him, "Hey at least I didn't do it on purpose." Rancis calmed down a little, but he still looked annoyed.

* * *

><p>It was a few minutes before the other racers crossed the finish line. The racers that would be Sugar Rush's avatars will be Vanellope, Taffyta, Gloyd, Rancis, Candlehead, Swizzle, Jubileena, Minty, and Snowanna.<p>

Gloyd was talking to Rancis and Swizzle when he noticed Ralph and the other talking to Vanellope, he had the urge to prank one of them while they weren't looking, but he resisted the urge. If Vanellope could control her glitch, he could control his urge to prank.

"Hey, game to Gloyd." Rancis said getting Gloyd's attention, "Are you listening?"

"What? Oh sorry what were you saying?" Gloyd asked.

Swizzle smirked, "Well maybe you would know if you weren't too busy looking at your girlfriend."

Gloyd blushed, "She's not my girlfriend." He said in a more quiet tone.

"But you want her to be." Swizzle said.

Gloyd grumbled, but then smirked, "How do you know if I was staring at her. You were too distracted by Minty." He could fight fire with fire when he wanted to.

Now it was Swizzle's turn to blush, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Gloyd raised his eyebrows, "Has The Swizz been tamed by a girl?" Gloyd looked at Rancis, "I could recall a couple times where he wouldn't pull off some stunt because Minty didn't want him to. Don't you agree?" Rancis laughed and nodded, Swizzle grumbled something that probably wasn't E-rated.

* * *

><p>"You did great little sister," Ralph said to Vanellope.<p>

Vanellope gave a confident smile, "When do I not?"

"Well Gloyd seemed to be giving you a hard time at the beginning." Felix pointed out.

Calhoun waved a dismissive hand, "It was part of her strategy, she wanted him to feel like he could win then waited until he lowered his guard, when that happened he was more helpless than an injured sparrow surrounded by a flock of hungry falcons."

Vanellope laughed at her analogy, but she knew it wasn't a strategy. Gloyd _did_ give her a bit of trouble. She looked over at the pumpkin prankster, who was laughing with Rancis next to a blushing Swizzle. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of Gloyd back to his normal self. "Vanellope?" Felix said waving a hand in front her face. She seemed to come out of a daze. Felix looked where Vanellope was gazing, "Is our little president getting the honey-glows for one of the boys?" Vanellope blushed.

"No, of course not." She said quickly, rather too quickly.

Calhoun raised an eyebrow, "Well that was a quick answer, one of the signs that you could be lying."

"Look," Vanellope said, "I don't want to talk about that right now, so can we just do something else?"

Ralph chuckled, "As you say President Fartfeathers."

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was spent at Tapper's, hanging around Game Central Station, or just exploring the other games. Sadly their time of fun had to come to an end when the announcement was made that the arcade was about to open.<p>

"Okay guys, I'll see you at the Sugar Rush Ball right?" Vanellope asked.

"Wouldn't miss it." Felix said, Ralph and Calhoun gave similar responses and Vanellope rush off towards her game.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in Sugar Rush, Gloyd was in deep thought. Vanellope had been on his mind ever since the Triple R. No matter what he did, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He knew he liked her, but he didn't think she would be on his mind this much. He could picture her perfectly in his head. Her raven hair with the candy mixed into it, those hazelnut eyes filled with excitement, and he had to admit. The game's upgrade had given her some nice curves, and that smile she got after a good race-<p>

Gloyd smacked himself, "Get a hold over yourself you're sounding like Rancis when he talks about how much he loves Taffyta." He stopped. Was that why he was thinking like this? Did he… _love _Vanellope? He needed to take his mind off of this. He grabbed his hat, climbed into his kart, and drove off thinking a day of racing would clear his head.

* * *

><p>Gloyd was never more popular that day, apparently rumors of his performance yesterday spread like wildfire throughout the arcade and whenever a kid wouldn't or couldn't choose Vanellope, they would choose him, and with the newest feature to Sugar Rush, 'Vs. Race'. Sometimes he would race only against Vanellope, both of them being controlled by one of the players.<p>

* * *

><p>It was exhausting, but on the bright side he one 1st place a few times, not as many times as Vanellope, but he still did pretty good, despite the advantage Vanellope had with her glitching power.<p>

* * *

><p>The announcement that the arcade was closed was a relief for the prankster, he should feel exhausted, his mind certainly did, but his body didn't feel tired at all. It was part of his code to have a near endless supply of energy; that combined with the adrenaline that comes with racing.<p>

"Hey Gloyd," Jubileena said as she ran up to him, "You did great racing today."

Gloyd chuckled, "Thanks Jubi," Other than Swizzle, Jubileena was one of his closest friends in Sugar Rush, practically a sister to him.

"So you ready for the ball tonight?" she asked.

Gloyd did a double take, "That's tonight?!" he asked and shouted at the same time.

Jubileena smiled and nodded, "Yeah it is, I bet you're looking forward to dancing with our President." She said in a playful tone.

Gloyd covered his face with one hand, "Oh great not you too." Gloyd said.

The cherry-themed racer giggled, "Don't worry I'm not going to tease you too much." She said, "Just as long as you save one dance for me."

Gloyd smiled, "Okay, but just one dance." Jubileena gave Gloyd a quick hug before almost skipping to her kart. Gloyd rolled his eyes, "Always the matchmaker, I'll have to make a reminder for that dance I owe her."

* * *

><p>Vanellope couldn't help but watch as Jubileena talked to Gloyd, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but she felt a little jealous, especially when Jubileena hugged Gloyd. Gloyd was probably asking her to dance with him at the Sugar Rush Ball. "Jealous are we?" Vanellope jumped and saw Ralph behind her.<p>

"When did you get here?" she asked in surprise.

"Just now," he responded. He looked over at Gloyd, "So you're jealous that Jubileena may like Gloyd."

"No," she denied, "Why would I?"

Ralph shrugged, "I don't know, but he is a cool kid. If you like him I totally understand."

"Oh c'mon Stinkbrain, that's just… ridiculous." She said.

"What is?" Vanellope jumped, Gloyd was standing behind her.

"Gloyd!" She turned around sharply, "How much did you hear?"

"Oh just the part about something being ridiculous." Gloyd said and Vanellope sighed in relief, "So what exactly are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Vanellope said, "Well I was asking Ralph what he was doing here, then he brought up the Surge Protector, and that's what was ridiculous."

Gloyd raised an eyebrow, then he shrugged, "Alright, well see you at the ball Princess." He slimed at her before he walked away.

Vanellope smiled a little, "Well that's interesting." Ralph said, "I thought you didn't let _anybody_ call you 'Princess'."

Vanellope blushed, "Oh shut up and c'mon. I could use your help at the castle."

* * *

><p>Gloyd was standing in front of a mirror, he was wearing his tux, and he had to admit; he looked good. He was wearing a black tuxedo with orange cuffs, candy corn cufflinks and an orange bowtie. He wanted to wear his hat, but he felt that it didn't really match the outfit. "Man I've been hanging around Rancis too long." He said to himself.<p>

"Hey Gloyd, you ready?" Swizzle's voice called from outside. Gloyd walked outside to see Swizzle wearing a blue tuxedo with a green tie, he was still wearing his hat. No surprise there, "What no hat?"

Gloyd shrugged, "Head got so big from racing it doesn't fit." Swizzle laughed at his joke.

"Come on," he said, "we don't want to keep the president waiting." Gloyd rolled his eyes.

"No we don't." he answered, "Plus you just want to get to Minty as fast as possible." Gloyd laughed and got into his kart.

* * *

><p>Vanellope was in her room with Taffyta and Candle, who were helping her get ready for the ball. "Vanellope you're looking great." Taffyta said, "If Gloyd doesn't fall for you tonight, then he's denser than a jawbreaker." Vanellope blushed.<p>

"Will you cut that out." Vanellope said.

"Oh c'mon on," Candlehead said, "We all know you're lying when you tell us that you don't want any attention from Gloyd." Vanellope was silent, "Okay all done." Vanellope looked in the mirror.

She was wearing a light mint-green dress that matched her usual hoodie with matching gloves that went to her elbows, her hair was styled in a bun like when she discovered she was a princess. On her head she, regrettably, wore a tiara on her head.

"Yep, you'll definitely knock Gloyd off his feet." Taffyta said. Vanellope rolled her eyes, but smiled.

* * *

><p>Gloyd and Swizzle arrived at the palace where they found several people walking up the pathway into the castle. "I've forgotten how popular this thing is?" Gloyd muttered. The two of them pushed through the crowd and made their way to the front where they found Snowanna and Adorabeezle greeting guests.<p>

"We were wondering when you'd show up." Snowanna said to Swizzle, "You were supposed to help Jubileena and Minty set up the refreshments." Swizzle tried to smile innocently asking Gloyd to save him.

"That reminds me," Adorabeezle said, "Rancis and Taffyta are looking for you." She said to Gloyd.

"Me, why?" she shrugged, which meant she didn't know. Gloyd walked inside the castle, leaving Swizzle to fend for himself.

* * *

><p>He found the couple by the punch bowl. Rancis was wearing a chocolate brown suit with a yellow and brown tie. Taffyta was wearing a sparkling pink gown. "Hey it's the newlyweds." Gloyd said as he walked up.<p>

"Nice to see you too." Taffyta said.

"So what did you need me for?" Gloyd asked.

"We need you to introduce Vanellope to the guests when they all come in." Rancis said, Gloyd was surprised.

"Isn't that Sour Bill's job?" he asked.

Taffyta rolled her eyes, "Yes, but he's going to be busy-"

"Seriously?" Gloyd interrupted, "That Sour Patch would work if was dead." Taffyta cleared her throat, "Sorry, continue."

"Anyway as I was saying, he was going to be busy, and you're the first alternate." Taffyta said.

"I would've thought one of you two would be the first alternates." He said, then something dawned on him, "Oh I see," he said, "You two want some alone time and don't want to worry about something like that." They both blushed when they saw what he was getting at.

"No," they both said at the same time, Gloyd laughed.

"I'm just messing with you," Gloyd said as he walked away. Then he turned around, "But seriously, can I be the godfather?"

"GLOYD!" they shouted.

* * *

><p>Ralph was in a suit similar to the one he wore at Felix and Calhoun's wedding, and was remembering why he didn't wear it very often. They arrived at the palace and walking inside as they heard the party music. Most of the arcade was in the massive ballroom, but there was still plenty of room to dance. They were looking for Vanellope when a familiar voice echoed through the speakers.<p>

* * *

><p>"Good evening everyone," Gloyd said into the microphone he was holding, "I hope you're planning to have fun tonight. If you aren't, well good thing I put something extra in the punch." A couple of the guests' eyes widened in fear as they looked at their cups, "I'm just messing with you." Relief spread throughout the ballroom, "Well you officially start this. Allow me to introduce our ruler. The ever powerful and awesome," <em>'and really pretty.'<em> He added in his head, "Princess-"

"PRESIDENT!" a voice interrupted.

Gloyd rolled his eyes, "Vanellope Von Schweetz." Vanellope stepped into view and Gloyd was astounded, he thought it was impossible, but Vanellope looked even more prettier than she did earlier.

* * *

><p>Vanellope smiled at the reaction from Gloyd, she held out a hand for the microphone. Gloyd was in a daze for second, then he came out of it, blushed and handed the mic to Vanellope. "Thank you." She told him and turned to the crowd, "As the ruler of Sugar Rush, I just have one thing to say." She paused for an effect, "Let's get this party started!" Everybody cheered and Vanellope turned the mic off.<p>

She turned to Gloyd, and caught him staring, "And just what are you looking at?" she asked in a playful tone. Gloyd blushed and looked away.

"Nothing," he said quickly, "Well I promised Jubileena a dance so I better get that over with." Gloyd rushed off leaving Vanellope a little jealous. Why couldn't he promise to dance with her?

* * *

><p>Gloyd had just requested a song people where people could dance with a partner, then he went off to find Jubileena. The sooner he got this over with the better. It wasn't that he didn't like the idea of dancing with her, but he would've preferred to dance with Vanellope. He saw Jubileena by the snack table and walked over to her just as the song was starting.<p>

* * *

><p>Vanellope watched Gloyd dance with Jubileena, she could help but notice that they looked like they were having fun. "Why can't that be me?" she silently asked.<p>

"Because he's just too afraid to ask." Vanellope turned and saw Swizzle.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Swizzle chuckled, "Gloyd is my best friend, and he can't hide much from me. He wants to dance with you more than anything. He just is too afraid to ask."

"Why?" she asked.

"He doesn't know the outcome, he pulls off so many pranks without breaking a sweat because he knows what's going to happen." Swizzle explained, "But with you, there are several possible outcomes, and he doesn't want to risk running into a bad one. Just give it time, he'll come around." He walked away leaving Vanellope to her thoughts.

* * *

><p>The song ended and Gloyd and Jubileena stopped dancing, "You sure are a great dancer Gloyd." She commented.<p>

"Which is surprising," Gloyd muttered.

"What was that?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing." He covered up, "Well thanks for the dance Jubi, it was actually pretty fun."

She giggled, "If you have fun dancing with me, you're going to have the time of your life when you dance with Vanellope," Gloyd blushed, "Well I'll see you later." She said skipping into the crowd. He chuckled at her behavior, she may be in her teen years, but she'll always act like her younger self. He went over to the snack table to get some punch.

* * *

><p>About half an hour later Gloyd, Swizzle and Rancis were talking and enjoying some treats when DJ came online, "Just a heads up folks, after the next song we're going to slow things down a bit. So boys, it might be a good time for you to find that special girl." Gloyd's ears perked up at the last bit.<p>

"So," Swizzle said next to him, "Are you going to dance with Vanellope?"

"I don't know, are you going to dance with Minty?" he shot back.

Rancis sighed, "Gloyd look, we all know you're hopelessly in love with her. Look you just need to throw caution to the wind and ask her to dance, because I'm not gonna lie when I saw she's very pretty, and I'm not the only one that thinks that. So you better find the guts to ask her before someone else does."

That got Gloyd's attention, "Gloyd, would you rather dance with her," Swizzle said, "Or play it safe and watch her dance with someone else?" Gloyd thought for a moment, then he downed all of his punch and crushed the cup in his hand.

"Excuse me," he said walking away. Swizzle and Rancis smiled feeling proud of the prankster.

"Three gold coins say he kisses her by the end of the night." Rancis says.

Swizzle smirks, "He'll kiss her in the next hour."

"You're on," Rancis said shaking hands with the daredevil.

* * *

><p>Gloyd was looking everywhere for Vanellope, pretty soon he started looking for Ralph. If he found him, he'd find Vanellope. He spotted the wrecker easily and pushed through crowds and stepped around couples to get to him.<p>

"Hey Gourdbreath," Ralph said seeing the prankster walk up.

"What's up Wreck-it?" he said. "Have you seen Vanellope?" Ralph smiled knowing he would ask.

"Yeah, she's over there with Taffyta and Candlehead." He said pointing.

"Okay thanks," He said walking away.

"See you later lover boy." Ralph said with a laugh.

Gloyd turned around, "Aren't you supposed to be looking for Sorceress?" Ralph's cheeks turned red and Gloyd continued toward the girls.

* * *

><p>"Vanellope, you can't keep waiting for Gloyd," Taffyta said, "Just find him and ask him to dance with you."<p>

Candlehead saw something behind Vanellope, "You may not have to." Taffyta looked where Candlehead and was surprised.

Before Vanellope could question what they were looking at. A familiar voice reached her ears, "Princess?"

She turned around and saw Gloyd, looking pretty good in his tux, "Do I even need to remind you not to call me Princess?"

Gloyd smiled, "No, you don't." he heard the current song coming to an end. He held out a hand, "Vanellope, do you want to dance?"

Vanellope's jaw dropped slight, she never expected him to actually ask. She got over the shock quickly, "I thought you'd never ask." She accepted his outstretched hand and he led her to the dance floor.

* * *

><p><strong>(A.N. the song that's playing is 'So Close' by Jon McLaughlin, and I suggest you listen to it as you read this next part.)<strong>

* * *

><p>The slow melody started and several couples started to sway to the music. Gloyd put his free hand on Vanellope's hip and she put hers on his shoulder. Gloyd looked a little nervous, "Just a warning, I'm not the most experienced dancer."<p>

Vanellope giggled, "Don't worry, neither am I." Gloyd gave her a smile before he started to dance deciding to take the lead. The couple started to move with the music as they heard the lyrics.

* * *

><p><em>You're in my arms<em>_  
><em>_And all the world is calm__  
><em>_The__music playing__on for only two_

* * *

><p>Gloyd was focusing on the ground, hoping not to step on Vanellope's feet, but he saw that the two of them were moving slowly and in sync with each other. Gloyd looked up and whenever their eyes met. They would look away shy with a blush dusting their already colored cheeks. When Gloyd looked away he saw Taffyta and Rancis dancing together. Rancis winked at him and gave him a signal that he was doing great.<p>

* * *

><p><em>So close together<em>_  
><em>_And when I'm with you__  
><em>_So close to feeling alive_

* * *

><p>Vanellope couldn't help but notice how the words could relate to her and Gloyd. When she thought about it, she did feel sort of alive when she was with Gloyd, especially when he asked her to pull a prank with him. With her close to him, she could really see just how cute he was.<p>

* * *

><p><em>A life goes by<em>_  
><em>_Romantic dreams must die__  
><em>_So I bid mine goodbye and never knew__  
><em>_So close was waiting, waiting here with you__  
><em>_And now forever I know__  
><em>_All that I want is to hold you__  
><em>_So close_

* * *

><p>Gloyd and Vanellope didn't notice, but they were dancing together in perfect sync, unable to take their eyes off of one another. A spotlight was following their movements as they glided across the ballroom floor. Gloyd twirled her around and Vanellope was now dancing with her back against Gloyd's chest. neither of them knew where these moves were coming from, but they seemed right.<p>

* * *

><p><em>So close to reaching that famous happy end<em>_  
><em>_Almost believing this one's not pretend__  
><em>_And now you're beside me and look how far we've come__  
><em>_So far, we are, so close_

* * *

><p>When the instrumental part of the song started to play. Gloyd and Vanellope were now dancing alone in a ring of couples, fully into the music, they could barely notice the world around them. They only thing they could see at this point was each other. The spotlight continued to follow the couple as Gloyd twirled Vanellope a couple times before pulling her close as they moved never missing a beat.<p>

* * *

><p>Ralph was currently dancing, or trying to dance, with Sorceress, but he kept his eye on Vanellope and Gloyd, they really looked like they were having fun. "What are you looking at?" Sorceress asked looking where he was, she smiled seeing the couple, "They make an adorable couple don't they?"<p>

Ralph smiled, "Yeah, I guess they do."

* * *

><p>Back with Gloyd and Vanellope, they came back to a slow waltz as the final verse came on<p>

* * *

><p><em>Oh how could I face the faceless days<em>_  
><em>_If I should lose you now?__  
><em>_We're so close__  
><em>_To reaching that famous happy end__  
><em>_Almost believing this one's not pretend__  
><em>_Let's go on dreaming for we know we are_

* * *

><p>Their dancing slowly slowed down. Gloyd stared deep into Vanellope's eyes and she stared into his. Soon they were standing still when the final words played.<p>

* * *

><p><em>So close<em>_  
><em>_So close__  
><em>_And still so far_

* * *

><p>Gloyd and Vanellope stayed in place. With hazelnut stared into chocolate, the couple found themselves leaning closer to each other. The song ended and everybody clapped. Gloyd and Vanellope came out of their daze and looked around to see everyone cheering and clapping for them.<p>

They slightly jumped apart, Vanellope's blush was red, and Gloyd was blushing so hard that you could barely see the orange in his cheeks. Some of the couples laughed and the crowd around them began to disperse. The two racers looked at each other, "You're a-a great dancer Gloyd." Vanellope said sheepishly.

Gloyd rubbed the back of his neck, "Thanks," he saw Swizzle standing next to Minty. Swizzle urged him, "Go on, tell her." He mouthed.

"Hey Vanellope," Gloyd started. "I have something to tell you."

"What?" she asked, she was really hoping he was going to say what she thought he was going to say.

"I- um… I" Gloyd struggled to say what he wanted to, "I-" he couldn't say it, "I think you're a good dancer too." Vanellope's hopes sunk like they were in Nesquicksand.

"Oh," she said, "Thanks." She said, "Well… I better go." She turned around and walked away, trying to fight the tears coming out of her eyes.

* * *

><p>Gloyd sighed and put covered his face with a hand, "Gloyd you idiot, who lets a girl like Vanellope walk away like that?"<p>

"Seriously Gloyd," Swizzle said behind him, "I can't believe you sometimes."

"Neither can I," Gloyd responded.

"Gloyd, you letting her get away?" Rancis said as he walked up, "That just isn't you." Gloyd nodded, "So what are you going to do about it?" Gloyd thought about it for a moment, then determination came onto his face. He turned around and ran in the direction Vanellope went in.

* * *

><p>Gloyd was about to exit the ballroom when a huge hand stopped him, "Where do you think you're going?" Ralph asked, "Haven't you done enough?"<p>

"Probably," he said honestly, "which is why I'm going to fix it." he said pushing the large hand away and running down the hallway.

* * *

><p>Vanellope was outside leaning against a railing to a balcony, she usually came up here to think, or when she wanted some alone time. She wiped the tears coming off her face, she didn't want to cry, but she couldn't stop a few tears from coming out. "Vanellope, what were you thinking?" she said to herself, "That Gloyd would tell you that he returns your feelings and that you would get together?" she sighed, "Yes, that's exactly what I thought." She said silently to herself.<p>

"Vanellope?" a voice asked behind her. It was Gloyd.

"Leave me alone," she said, Gloyd was the last person she wanted to see.

"Come on Vanellope, I need to talk to you." Vanellope turned around, "Look, I know I know I'm an idiot."

"And?" Vanellope said.

"And a real Leadhead." He added.

"And?" she said, she was clearly enjoying this.

"A pranking pain in the gumdrops." He said.

"And?" she said, he was missing one more.

"Uh… a Gourdbrain?" he asked.

She smiled, "To the point that your head is nearly a pumpkin." Gloyd chuckled and so did Vanellope, "You know… it was really sweet."

Gloyd was confused, "What was?"

"The letter you sent me," Gloyd blushed.

"Oh you read it?" he said sounding nervous and embarrassed. She nodded, "Spook thought it was a good idea."

Vanellope stepped closer to him, "And it was," she said before wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly and holding him close. Gloyd was surprised by the contact, but he returned the hug.

"Princess," he said pulling away, "What I said earlier, after the dance. It wasn't what I meant to say."

Vanellope was confused, "So you _don't_ think I'm a good dancer?"

Gloyd jumped back from her, "No, no of course not," he blurted, "You're an amazing dancer, probably one of the best I've seen. Which only adds another thing to the long list of things awesome about you." He rambled and Vanellope laughed finding this amusing and cute. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Vanellope said, "You're just cute." Gloyd blushed.

"You think I'm cute?" he said, Vanellope blushed and nodded. Gloyd smiled and pulled her in close, "You really are something special Vanellope." She blushed.

"W-what were you going to tell me?" she said stuttering a bit, why did he have to be so dang cute.

Gloyd leaned in close enough that Vanellope could feel his breath against her face. "Do I have to say it?" he said.

"I would like you to," she said.

Gloyd lips brushed hers as he said four words, "I love you Vanellope."

Vanellope smiled and her eyes shined, "I love you too." Then Gloyd closed the distance between them and kissed her.

Electricity coursed through their bodies as Vanellope melted into the kiss and pulled Gloyd closer. Gloyd tilted his head to deepen the kiss and so did Vanellope, there was no lust, passion, or any hormones(if they could ever get those), just pure love and emotion built up over the past few days.

Gloyd pulled away from the kiss and rested his forehead against Vanellope's, he stared into her eyes and gave her the most brilliant smile she had ever seen, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." He said breathlessly.

Vanellope returned the smile, "You've got no idea how long I've been waiting for that." Gloyd chuckled and moved backwards a bit and looked Vanellope over. He looked deep in thought, "What?"

"Nothing," Gloyd said, "I'm just asking the code what I did to deserve the perfection in front of me." Vanellope blushed and looked away, but Gloyd just put a hand under her chin and tilted her head back up. "You know Princess, there's nowhere else I would rather be than with you." His ear perked up and he stepped away from her, "Which is why," he said as he walked toward the door, "That I prefer... that we were alone." He quickly pulled the door open and Taffyta, Rancis, and Swizzle fell to the ground.

Vanellope's eyes widened, "How did you know we were there?" Rancis asked.

Gloyd rolled his eyes, "Please, there's no way that you _wouldn't_ listen in on us after you encouraged me to go after her." Swizzle gave Gloyd a 'seriously?' look, "Okay you got me, I heard Taffyta 'aww' at when I complimented Vanellope."

"I can't believe you guys would spy on us like that." Vanellope said.

"Hey Rancis and I made a bet, how else were we supposed to find out who won?" Swizzle said.

Gloyd looked at Swizzle, "You made a bet on me and Vanellope?"

Vanellope was starting to glitch, which probably meant she was really angry, "You've got a ten second until I come after you, I may start to reconsider the whole 'execution' thing." They all paled at the thought and scrambled away quickly. Vanellope was about to follow when a hand stopped her.

"C'mon Princess," Gloyd said turning her around, "We can get back at them later." Vanellope was about to protest, but when he pulled her into a hug, her frustration melted away.

"I guess just this once," Vanellope pulled away from the hug, "That reminds me, why is it that you call me 'Princess'? You mentioned something in the letter, but not the full reason."

Gloyd thought it for a second, "Well Vanellope, if you must know." He said, "I guess it's because no matter what you or anybody else says…" he said before softly kissing her. He pulled away, "You'll always be my Princess." Vanellope's heart melted and she felt tears come to her eyes and she pulled him close, and for the first time in her life. She was glad that she was a princess.

* * *

><p><strong>-*X*x*X*-<strong>

***Sighs in relief* Whew, you have no idea how long it took to write this, I've had to rewrite scenes, change some of the events, I've even altered the ending a couple of times.**

**And now it's finally finished, and it's my longest one-shot ****ever****! I mean look at this, 58 pages, over 17,000 words. Boy no wonder it took so long.**

**It felt good to write, well I thought it was a very sweet story. Am I right?**

***Crickets chirping*… Tough crowd.**

**Well anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story, be sure to leave a review telling me what you think, or PM me if you want to. I would appreciate some feedback, I'm not used to writing one-shots(especially in a fandom I'm not used to) so I could really use some feedback(positive or negative) telling me how good/bad I did.**

**This is W. R. Winters sighing off.**


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